Screw-starting tool



June 10, 1924. r 1,497,642

R. J. ROWE SCREW STARTING TOOL Filed April 27. 1923 Elmumtoz mmmup Patented June 10, 1924.

P ATEN T ()FFICE.

ROBERT. J. nowaIo-r roar HURON, MICHIGAN.

SCREW-STARTING- TOOL.

Application filed'April 27, 1923. Serial N 0. 635,048. i

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT. J. Rown, a citizen of'the United States, residing at Port Huron, county of St. Claire, and State of Michigan, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Screw-Starting Tools, of which. the following is a specification.

This invention relates to screw starters and drivers, and moreespecially to a tool of this character which is particularly adapted forstarting screws in thecovers of Bendix automobiletransmission cases, and has for one of its objects tov provide a device of this character which will be simple inconstruction, comparatively inexpensiveto manufacture, and more efficient in use than those which have been heretofore proposedg A further object of the invention is to providea device ofthe character described which isparticularly adapted for gripping and holding screws and the lock Washers usually associated therewith, and which may also be adjusted to render the gripping meansinoperative, whereby the tool may be used as an ordinary'screw driver.

With the above and otherobjects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the'invention consists in the novel'details of construction and the combinations of parts more fully hereinafterdescribed and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views; 1

Figure l .isan elevational view of a screw starter made in accordance; with the present invention;

Fig. 2.is a fragmentary elevational view, the outer casing being shown in section, illustrating the interior construction of the device;

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2, taken at 180 degrees therefrom, and showing the tool gripping and holding a screw and lock washer in position for starting the same;

Fig. 4 is aview similar to Fig. 2, and showing the gripping jaws in section;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view, taken approximately on the plane indicated by the line 5.5 of Fig. 1, looking down;

Fig. 6 is a. similar view, taken approximately on the plane indicated by the line 66 of Fig. 1, looking down F ig. 7 is a bottom plan View of the tool;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, of a slightly modified form of the invention;

Fig. 9 is a similar View, angles to Fig. 8; and,

Fig. 10 is a cross sectional view, taken approximately on the plane indicated by the line 101O of Fig; 9.

In the said drawings, the numeral 10 intaken at right dicates the shank of the device, one end of a substantially cylindrical body portion 16,

provided with a pair of depending legs 17, the lower ends of which are bent at an angle, as indicated at 18, to constitute gripping members adapted to engage and hold the screws, such as 19, and lock washers, such as 20,'as indicated in Fig. 3.

The said grippingmember may readily be stamped from sheet material and suitably bent or curved to substantially cylindrical shape, as indicated in the drawings, to snugly embrace the shank 10 with its tongue or projection 14 engaging the groove 13 of the said shank, as will be readily apparent. y I

Slidably mounted on the said shank 10, and surrounding the gripping member 15 and'its jaws 17 is a sleeve 21', which is'provided adjacent it's'lower'end with an elongated slot 22, one side of whichis provided with a plurality of notches or serrations 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27, see Fig. 1. The gripping member 15 is provided with a struck-out tongue or projection 28, see Figs. 1, 3 and 5, which is adapted to work in the said slot 22 and in its notches or serrations above mentioned.

The mode of using the tool will be readily apparent from the above description, but it may be briefly summarized as follows. hen it is desired to start a screw, the sleeve 21 of'the tool may be rotated. from right to left, as seen in Fig. 1, to disengage the r and to bring it into the slot 22.

tongue or projection 28 from the notch 25 hen in this position the said sleeve may be moved longitudinally relative to the shank and the gripping member 15,} tocause its" extreme lower end 30 to contract the spring aws or grippingmember 17 and to cause them to rated in Fig. 3.

engage the screw head or washer, as indi- When the saidscrew and washer is-thus engaged and held, the sleeve maythen be rotated in an opposite direction to bring the tongueor projection 28 into engagement with one of the other notches or serrations 2-6 or 27, whereupon thQ JtLWS 18 wlll be caused to. securely hold the screw and washer. ,The shank 10 may then be moved longitudinally relative to both the sleeve r lOand thegripping member 15 for a distance equal to the lengthof the slot or groove 13, to bring the reduced end 12 of the said shank into engagement with the slot in the screw heat. The entire tool may then be rotated'by motion applied to the handle 11 tostart the screw andto either :drive the same home or-"t o withdraw it, as the case maybe. hen the driving operation is completed thesleeve may be again rotated to disengage the projection 28 from the particular. notch it happens to be occupying,

whereupon the said sleeve may be moved axially relative to the gripping member,

"Iieetion between the members 21 and 15, the member 21 1S indented or otherwise provided with a pair of substantially oppositely disposed inward projections 35, which extend into the spaces 36 betweenthe legs 17 of the member 15, aswill be clear from Figs. 9 and 10.

"Upon downward movement of the sleeve 21 relative to the shank 10,- the frictional engagement of the walls of the said sleeve with the grippingmember 15, will carry the latter downwardly also, the length of the slot 13, after which any further movement of the sleeve 2.1 will cause its lower edgeQS'O to contract the gripping jaws 18 to cause them to engage a screw and washer such as 19 and 20, as above described. Upon upward movement of the sleeve 21, its indentions will slide freely within the spaces 36 without moving the member 15, thereby releasing the gripping jaws 18, until they engage the loweredge of the head 16 of member 15. whereupon further upward movement of the sleeve will carry the member 15 with it to the limit of the slot 13, as will be readily apparent.

hile two forms of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the arrangement of parts. without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the accompanying claims.

hat is claimed is:

1;. A device of the class described comprising a shank; a gripping member pro vided with a tubular head and spaced de pending legs, slidably mounted on said shank; and a sleeve surrounding said shank and gripping member, provided with an indentation entering and slidable in the space between said legs and adapted to engage said head to move said gripping member.

2. A devicezo'f the class described comprising a shank; a gripping member provided with a tubular head and spaced depending legs, slidably mounted on said shank; means comprising a tongue and groove. connection for limiting relative movement between the. two; and a rigid sleeve surrounding said shank and gripping member, provided with an indentation entering and slidablein the space between said legs and adapted to engage said head to move said gripping member in one direction, the inner surface of said sleeve frictionally engaging the outer surface of said head to move said member in the other direction.

i ROBERT J. ROWE. 

